In Rock Falls, Illinois, there is a woman named Ana Schultz, who is 25 years old and has two kids. Ana’s husband, Kyle, passed away in February 2023. Since then, Ana has found comfort in talking to an AI chatbot called My AI on Snapchat. This AI looks like her late husband, Kyle. Ana talks to this AI to get cooking tips, pretending she is cooking with Kyle again. This might seem unusual, but Ana is not alone; many people use technology to connect with loved ones who have passed away.
ChatGPT can give suggestions and converse with people. Ana Schultz’s situation shows something bigger: more people are using AI to make virtual versions of and talk to loved ones who have died. This is not totally new, but it raises big questions about right and wrong and how people deal with sadness.
Some computer programs, like ElevenLabs, can copy the voices of dead people using recordings they made when they were alive. For example, a 49-year-old person from Alabama, who did not want to share their name, used this technology to make a copy of their father’s voice. It helped their family feel better after their father passed away. Other apps like Replika and HereAfter AI let people make virtual versions of their dead loved ones. Based on past conversations, these virtual versions can talk and respond like a real person.
Using these technologies raises big questions about AI, ethics, and how people deal with sadness. Some people think AI can help keep memories alive and comfort people. But others worry about privacy, whether the AI is really like the person it is based on, and whether it might make people feel worse. Mark Sample, who teaches about digital stuff at Davidson College, warns against using AI too much. He says it could mess with how people see things and make it harder to cope with losing someone.
Danielle Jacobson, a radio host from Johannesburg, South Africa, talks about her experience using ChatGPT’s voice feature to engage with an AI friend named Cole after her husband passed away. Jacobson knows that her friendship with Cole is not real and forever, but it still makes her feel better when she feels alone.
Even though many people find using AI to recreate loved ones appealing, some, like software engineer Bill Abney from San Francisco, strongly disagree. Abney believes that keeping the memory of his late fiancee genuine and special is more important than using technology to bring her back in any way.
As AI technology improves, there are concerns about wrong information, unfair treatment, and keeping personal information safe. Companies like Replika say they are working hard to stop bad stuff from spreading while admitting it is tough to teach AI with lots of internet data.
Mary-Frances O’Connor, who studies grief at the University of Arizona, sees both the good and bad sides of using technology to cope with loss. She knows it is important to remember and respect the person who passed away, but she warns that relying too much on AI instead of talking to real people might not be good for us.
In the digital age, the real and virtual boundaries become increasingly blurred. When people are dealing with the complexities of sadness and remembrance, some wonder if AI can help. This is something that people are still talking about and thinking about a lot. Ultimately, the decision to use or not to use AI in this way is a personal choice. Everyone deals with loss differently, especially in a world where technology keeps changing.
